Thursday Bolts – 10.17.13
Anthony Slater on Diante Garrett: “But the question remains: How long can Garrett expect to be in OKC? When he initially signed with the Thunder, not many viewed him as much more than an extra body for training camp, providing OKC a bonus practice player, while giving Garrett a stage to showcase his ability for other teams. But the extended absence of Russell Westbrook, and Garrett’s strong play in limited preseason minutes, has suddenly made him a viable regular season roster candidate.”
David Stern says the league might change start times: “Interestingly, there’s an intermediate step that Yao raised earlier with me, and that is the question of whether the NBA would consider modifying some of the start times of its games so that they would be more accessible to international audiences at a more convenient time for them to watch,” Stern said. ”And I think that the NBA is going to have to wrestle over the next decade as more and more of our viewing audience is outside the United States, is what’s the best time for games to be played so that those fans can enjoy them live as opposed to having to get up in China and watch an NBA game at 7 in the morning. And I think that’s a fun problem that we’re going to be addressing because so much viewing is happening outside the United States now.”
Reasons KD might feel fat and what to do about it.
Who’s going to feel the most pressure this season? Not LeBron, and really, not KD either.
KD’s mom is taking a stand against the over-sexualized culture.
Steve Aschburner of NBA.com on his preferred League Pass team: “The easy answer would be LeBron James, but don’t go boldfacing that on me because he’s not my answer today. You really could have one guy for every day of the week, y’know. Like Derrick Rose and, when he’s back, Kobe Bryant for their comebacks. Like Dwight Howard for his redemption season. Like Ricky Rubio for his passing wizardry but also for the crossroads he has reached. Like Kevin Garnett, to whom I’m partial after raising him from a Timberpup in Minnesota. But day in, day out, my League Pass guy this season is going to be Kevin Durant – I don’t feel like I’ve had enough of a ringside seat for his blossoming, with his second-best status playing out in OKC a little under the national radar. Until he’s coming to us regularly in The Finals, I guess we have to go to him.”
The Thunder’s website now lists KD at 240 pounds, up from 235, and Russell Westbrook at 200, up from 187. Durant’s still listed at 6-9, though, so that’s still a lie.